A Kind Stranger
by kazuma85
Summary: Renji is driving alone, in the middle of the night, out of town, with only a friendly radio announcer keeping him company. AU, subtle M/M.


**Disclaimer:  
**I do not make any money from writing fanfiction, and so on, and so on...

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**A Kind Stranger**

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"_And now, here's a song for all the lonely souls out there,_" the radio announcer said before a sad rock ballad began to play.

Renji rolled his eyes, but kept them on the road. The last thing he needed was to have an accident after what he'd been through tonight. Usually he'd never drive home this late – he'd spend the night with his lover – but now... He didn't have one anymore. And it was his decision.

It was almost 3 a.m. and next to being dead-tired, he had spent the last several hours explaining and arguing with his lover. Ex-lover, he corrected himself. Again he reminded himself that it was his decision to break it off and leave, but it still felt surreal. It hurt. And driving alone in the middle of the night was an 'excellent' situation to get into deep thoughts.

The song on the radio wasn't helping either. Renji felt really alone. Alone and miserable. After almost three years, he ended his relationship with Byakuya and it was actually very hard to grasp after such a long time. The other man deserved it, though. After years of being constantly criticized and spoken down on, it should have been easy... But all Renji could think of were good moments. The smell of Byakuya's hair, his smooth touch, that rare smile on his lips... Sometimes it even made Renji feel like those things were worth of all the trouble, but the rational part of his mind kept pulling in the opposite direction.

He glanced to the side. There was nothing but darkness surrounding him. He was all alone in his car, with only the radio announcer keeping him company every three or four minutes between songs. He rarely listened to that station – he had turned it on by accident while furiously getting into the car and pushing random buttons on his car radio just to make it _loud_.

After several heart-breaking songs, Renji felt as if a higher force was trolling him. The announcer had a nice voice, though. And he obviously decided to grant his few listeners that were awake with a monologue.

"_All of you listening to radio in this late hour, I hope there aren't any troubles that are keeping you awake. Or if there are, I want you to know you are not alone. There are ups and downs in life that are bound to happen. And when they do, you can be strong, or you can break, but you'll get through somehow..._"

Renji felt a knot in his throat.

"_So,_" the announcer said, "_since I have today's nightshift, I want you to know you can call here and talk to me on-air. The number is 888-BLEACH. While you decide, I'll let some music play. I hope to hear from you,_" his voice sounded as if there was a smile present. And it seemed sincere.

Renji listened to the song until it got suddenly quieter and the announcer's voice was heard once more.

"_I didn't expect you'd be this fast," he said, "Hello caller, you're on-air._"

"_Um, hi..._" A female voice was heard.

"_Hey darling. How are you?_"

"_I'm okay, I think... I've been thinking whole night and I called to ask... Why are you boys so complicated?_"

Renji shook his head. Wow.

There was a light chuckle from the announcer. "_Oh, we are not that complicated. Tell me what made you think that?_"

"_There's this boy that I like... And I think he likes me too... He's very sweet when he's talking to me and we're alone. But when he's with his friends, he acts like a moron! He teases me and steals my books._"

Renji's eyebrow twitched. "God, how old are you? Should you even be awake," he muttered.

The announcer hummed before speaking again. "_Sweetpea, guys are very simple. If he acts like that, he really does like you, but he wants to be cool in front of his friends. I'm guessing you're still in high school, so give him a few months 'till he sets things straight in his head._"

"_Wow, really? Thank you!_"

Renji was really pissed. He knew it wasn't the girl's fault, but still. If only HE had such '_terrible_' boy problems. He wished he was sixteen again. Before Byakuya, before everything.

The next caller was some drunk guy who kept swearing and repeating that his woman had cheated on him. The announcer had gotten rid of him pretty fast.

Renji still had at least a half-hour drive into the city and he was getting pretty tired and actually wished he had someone on the passenger seat to talk to. A hitchhiker... wasn't a good choice. There weren't any in this ungodly hour, anyway. Should he call the radio guy?

"Fuck it," Renji slowed down to put on his headset and dial the number on his cellphone. He remembered to turn his car radio off so there wouldn't be an annoying echo.

"Hello, you're on-air," answered the now familiar voice.

"Er, hi..."

"Hi! How are you?"

"Could be better. Driving home."

"Um, driving and talking on the phone?"

Renji chuckled. "It's okay, I have the headset on."

"Oh, alright then. So what's up?"

"I just... Need someone to talk to. I'm getting kinda tired and I'm still a half an hour away from home."

"Rough night?" the announcer asked.

"Oh yeah."

"So talk. It'll make you feel better. And you'll stay awake."

"Have you ever felt under-appreciated?" Renji asked out of the blue.

"Um..." the announcer paused, "Well, I guess I have."

"So what did you do?"

"Hm. First I asked myself if I was the problem. I realized that sometimes... you're just not good enough for some people, but it's their problem, not yours. Everybody's special and precious as a person, so when someone tells you you're not, they don't deserve you."

"You seem to have given a lot of thought into that subject," Renji sighed.

"I have. So who's been acting that way towards you?"

"My ex. It's still very fresh. Like, barely an hour has passed."

"Ouch..."

"Yeah well, it was me who ended it, so I guess I'm okay. Hey, what's your name? I feel weird talking to you and not knowing your name..."

"I'm Ichigo. So I guess you don't listen to this station too often? Almost everyone knows me by now."

Renji smirked. "Ichigo? As in strawberry?"

"Noooo," Ichigo seemed almost frustrated, "Ichigo as in '_he who protects_'!"

"Fine, fine, sorry! Heh, so I guess you get teased about your name?"

"Don't even try," Ichigo chuckled. "So what's your name?"

"I'm Renji... And I completely forgot we're talking on-air..."

"It's okay... Now people will know if you tease me about my name."

"Hah, what, you're some kind of a cult leader and they'll chase me with sticks?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Ichigo laughed a bit. "I'm glad you're having fun."

"Yeah well... You're good at making me laugh."

"I do my best. So..."

"I felt like I was wrong, yanno?" Renji suddenly blurted.

"Wrong?"

"Yeah. Now, driving home, I kept thinking about all the good stuff. Wondered if it was maybe worth all the trouble."

"Things like that are never worth the trouble. There shouldn't be any trouble. At least not the kind that makes you angry and break up."

"I know that," Renji sighed. "But there's still a part of me that thinks that I might have changed it if I'd tried hard enough..."

"Yeah. I understand. But how do you feel now?"

"I dunno... Lighter?"

"That's good," Ichigo sounded pleased. "Um, how long were you together?"

"Almost three years. It took me _that_ long to realize."

"Well, it's important that you _did_ realize it."

"I guess..." Renji murmured.

"How far are you from home now?"

"Waiting to get rid of me?" Renji teased.

"You read my mind," Ichigo accepted the joke.

"Mm. I've gotten into Karakura now. Ten more minutes. Kami, I can't wait to get in my bed..."

"Me too," Ichigo yawned a bit.

"Hehe, what?"

"OH! No! I mean in my own bed, jeez!"

"That was priceless," Renji laughed, "I wish I could see your face."

"Yeah well... So tell me, Renji, what do you do?"

"Me and my friend have a kendo school. It's going well."

"Wow, that's great! I know of one in my neighborhood... Abarai and Madarame kendo dojo?"

"Heh, that's the place."

"Really? So which one are you?"

"I'm Abarai," Renji smirked, turning into his street, finally.

"Abarai Renji," Ichigo tried out aloud. "You've got yourself a free advertisement here."

"Pfft, at 3:37 a.m.?"

"That's what you get for free," Ichigo laughed a bit.

"Hmm, and what would I get for coffee and cake?" Renji blurted out before realizing it was all on-air.

"You'll have to find out about that one, I think," Ichigo's voice got slightly velvety, unnoticeably so if one hadn't paid attention.

Renji chuckled but avoided to answer. He stopped his car and turned the engine off, leaning back into his seat. "Well, I'm home..."

"Yeah?"

"Mm. It was nice chatting to you. Thank you for... the advice and the laughs."

"No problem. Are you going to listen to this station more often now?"

"I'll never change it again," Renji laughed. "So, I guess I should let someone else talk to you now. So many teenage problems so late at night. I'd never guess..."

Ichigo chuckled. "Just remember how it was for you."

"No thanks," Renji snorted. "I've had enough drama for tonight. Well, Ichigo, have a nice night. Drop by to our dojo sometimes."

"Will do," the announcer had a light tone. "Goodnight Renji."

"Night," Renji said and ended the call.

Well... It was a nice chat. He was glad he decided to do it. Grunting, he let himself out of the car and shoved his cellphone and the headset into his jeans pocket before locking the door. A few steps into his apartment building, his cellphone vibrated. A message.

Not even checking his phone, Renji ignored it until he'd gotten up into his apartment. He had no strength left to deal with Byakuya now.

Deciding not to even think about his ex-lover right now, he went to the bathroom and quickly stripped down before getting under the shower. Leaning back against the wall, he let the hot water caress his body, taking away the remains of tension. He really hadn't expected the chat to go so... easily and natural. And he couldn't get Ichigo's voice out of his head. The guy sounded like he was always having fun. Seemed so open and friendly.

The next train of thought in Renji's head was how to talk to Ichigo again. Would he stop by his dojo, like he'd said? Well, Renji will definitely listen to that radio station more often now. He smiled and quickly washed himself.

When he got into his bedroom, he decided to turn on his alarm clock-radio thing and after a quick search, he found the station. The music was playing. Renji didn't know the song, but it was nice and mellow, and NOT heart-breaking. Thank god.

Realizing he won't sleep well if he didn't check his new message on his cellphone, Renji grabbed his phone and lied back on his bed, taking a deep breath before opening the message. It was from an unknown number. He read it, his eyebrows shooting up.

_'Hey, it's Ichigo. We see each caller's number here, so I took advantage of it... I've never done this before, I swear! And I hope you don't get mad. I really enjoyed our talk and... Well, if you're up for that coffee and cake that you mentioned? NOT like a date, but... kinda, maybe? And if I've gotten this all wrong, just ignore me! I hope to hear from you... Okay, goodnight!_'

Renji stared at the words, feeling a smile stretching his lips. Wow. This was like in one of those cheesy, disgusting and yet adorable movies.

It took several tries, writing an answer. Renji fiddled with his phone, feeling like a teenager all of the sudden. He re-read his answer several times before deciding it was good enough.

'_Hey, I'm sorry for taking so long to answer! I gotta say I'm very surprised but it's all cool. I was actually thinking of a way to talk to you again. I'd love to have some coffee and cake with you. I'll call ya tomorrow afternoon so if you're free then, we can get together._'

Renji pressed 'send' and grinned. It was too soon for considering another relationship, but hanging out with Ichigo was promising good times. If anything they could end up being great friends.

The phone beeped almost immediately.

'_Great! I gotta take a nap after the nightshift, so afternoon works great for me. Hey, I'm just curious, could you send me your pic? Maybe I really do know you since your dojo is in my neighborhood._'

Renji smirked. He understood the need of seeing what the other one looked like and he wasn't offended. He wanted to know what Ichigo looked like too. He took a quick snapshot of himself with his phone camera and sent it with a message.

'_Your turn._'

A minute later, he got the response. Smiling from the picture, there he was. Ichigo was sitting in an office chair, obviously in a studio, with his headphones down around his neck. Handsome, almost pretty face, brandy colored eyes and strawberry blond hair, sticking out in every direction. The guy was... gorgeous.

'_I can't wait to have coffee and cake with you._' Renji sent without even thinking.

'_Hehe, same here! Well, I'll let you go now. Have a good night and sweet dreams, _' Ichigo replied.

'_You too Ichigo. See ya tomorrow!_' Renji quickly typed and snuggled into his pillow. It felt nice. Almost as if he had dreamt it all, but the messages on his phone proved it was real. This was one of those things he was completely certain of – he'd made the right decision, calling a kind stranger in the middle of the night.

It was the beginning of a new chapter, and Renji could barely wait for it to start.

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The end!


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